First it was Hosokawa, then Hashimoto and now Koizumi. All swept into power on the promise of far-reaching reforms. However, delivery results have been dismal so far.

Although Koizumi may initiate real corporate reform, bank shareholders are unlikely to prosper.Rip Van Winkle1 spent his days avoiding work and his shrewish wife. Japan's politicians spent the 1990s steering clear of their festering bank problem.

After liberally drinking from a keg at a nine-pin mountain party, Rip fell asleep for 20 years. LDP officials, inebriated from the power of one party rule, slumbered for...